


Tears: An Unnamed AU Blurb

by MegoSlacker



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Gen, Memory Alteration, Memory Loss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:22:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23723038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegoSlacker/pseuds/MegoSlacker
Summary: A small blurb for the Unnamed AU.Sildar, one of the three Bureau Reclaimers, deals with the damage to his Umbrastaff.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 64





	Tears: An Unnamed AU Blurb

Sildar was surprised at how heartbroken he felt when he looked over the his battered and nearly wrecked Umbrastaff. Despite the late hour after returning from their last mission,, he felt he owed the artifact some immediate attention to the damage before letting himself get some rest.

It’s fabric was shredded and one of the support spokes was nearly snapped, a result of the battle that took place during their mission in Goldcliff. He couldn’t even fathom why the damage struck such a chord with him. It wasn’t even an item that he was any good at utilizing. He just kept it around in case it was useful in some way, such as falling from heights or needing to use a quick, but powerful, magic missile. Nonetheless, something about letting it get so damaged irked jim.

He ran his fingers along the tear and sighed again for what had to be the hundredth time. Would a regular thread and needle even do the trick? He could just take it to Leon. The gnome artificer surely had an idea or two on how to repair a magical item like this, right?

It was the most logical idea. 

_ Yeah but do you really want that guy messin’ around with this kind of stuff? YOUR stuff? Did you see the look he gave it when you got it appraised? Hell, he’d probably keep the thing if he could. For himself. Just get some tape, bud. It’ll be fine. _

It’ll be fine. 

Sildar pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. Where was he even supposed to find tape at this hour, in this place? Would he have to deal with that... thing... that ran the Fantasy Costco? Was the Costco even open this late in the day? 

Honestly, he should have just went straight to his dorms instead of fussing over the umbrella. It could wait until morning when he could do the repairs with a clear head and a steadier hand. He just didn’t feel like sleeping yet. He was exhausted but the last thing he wanted was to be in bed and around his partners... 

He was brought out of his thoughts then by the sound of heeled footsteps echoing off the walls. He looked up, about to tell off whoever was intruding on him to buzz off, when he saw who had approached.

An elf. 

The weird one who didn’t speak at all. The one Madame Director usually sent to do small errands throughout the Bureau.

Sil stared at him, waiting for him to speak or respond. Instead, the elf simply stared, tilting his head at him slightly as if questioning why he was there. 

“Uh… you okay there bud?” Sildar asked hesitantly, watching the elf warily. What had the Director asked everyone to call him? He knew she had requested a name but to think of it… It started with T, right? Would it be awful just to refer to the weird fellow as just ‘T’? It was better than just calling him ‘elf’...

The elf blinked vacantly at him. His dark-ringed, grey eyes fell on the damaged umbrastaff. Sil’s grip on the umbrella tightened slightly followed quickly by a pang of guilt. The fellow looked, if anything, just as tired as he was despite his emotionless gaze. 

“You better get moving along,” Sildar said then, feeling unnerved by the blank stare. The elf... ‘T’... blinked at him and bowed his head. It had to be a trick of the light to think that those long ears had just drooped a little, right? Nonetheless he turned to obey the command he had been given.

_ Wait a minute, my guy. He could be useful. Bet he knows where all the good office supplies are. Like tape. If we don’t want to see some crotchety and sketchy artificer we could use tape... _

Sildar sighed again, speaking up again.

“Wait, uh… T? You know where a guy can get his hands on some tape? Like, some really good duct tape?” he asked then. The elf stopped his retreat and looked back before nodding once, waiting patiently for whatever Sil’s next query was.

“Care to help me find some? Gotta patch this thing up,” he said, lifting the battered umbrella in his hands pointedly. T nodded once more before turning and walking away. Sildar could only guess that he was meant to follow his strange and silent host to where he needed to go. He tucked the umbrella up under his arm carefully and moved to join the elf in a quest to find suitable adhesive material.

T walked steadily through the winding paths and halls of the Bureau, leading Sil on a definite path somewhere. Sildar was relieved to find that he wasn’t being led toward the Artificer’s dome or the Fantasy Costco. It was unnerving to follow T in silence though, so he decided to talk to break the tension he was feeling. Even if the elf couldn’t reply, it would be better than nothing, right?

“I wonder if we’re the only ones awake right now?“ he muttered as he glanced around. There were almost no Bureau employees around save for a few guards doing their nightly security rounds. They paid neither Sil or T any mind, merely nodding their heads in salute. That was a relief although the privilege of being out and about so late must have been because he was a Reclaimer and the elf was… well… T’s actual designation was still somewhat of a mystery. 

“So what you were doing out so late? Do you normally just lurk around the halls at night?” Sildar asked with a slightly teasing tone. The elf glanced over his shoulder for a second but didn’t answer. Sil cleared his throat and looked away to cover his awkwardness, feeling his face get warm. Why did that look seem filled with judgement? 

“That was a joke. Sorry. Guess it’s not really my business if the boss lady had a job for you at this hour...” he muttered quietly.

_ Do you even know why are you apologizing? Not like he can answer you, right? Sad… That’s real sad... _

Sildar pushed the thought from his mind. T continued on his steady path, leading him through what he was now recognizing to be the route toward the Voidfish’s chamber. What in the world would he be going this way for?

“This is really out of the way. You got a secret supply closet this way or something?” Sildar asked. He felt a sense of deep anxiety rising. Something about the place made the hair on the back of his neck rise up. Again he got that blank look in reply from T. Those grey eyes betrayed nothing. 

Soon enough the elf stopped at the threshold of the Voidfish’s chamber and looked up at the door. After a moment, as if to brace himself, he touched the access pad at the side of the door. It whooshed open and he took a tentative step inside. If he didn’t know better, he would have thought the elf was nervous about going into the chamber. 

It was just as he remembered it from a few weeks back, just with the lights turned down. A large room with nothing more than a simple desk and an enormous tank holding the large, jellyfish-like creature. The creature swayed and bobbed peacefully in it’s water and ichor. Light flickered and pulsed within it at a slow pace, the colours reflecting off the glass walls and beyond. It seemed to be in some state of rest. At least as close to rest as an ethereal and mysterious creature like itself could get to.

Sildar stared at it, following the pattern of the light it emitted curiously, ignoring his companion as he walked over to the desk. It was a rather peaceful and entrancing sight to behold, watching the Voidfish just… floating.

_ I wonder what other secrets it’s hiding. Wish I knew what exactly it was. Why is it here and all alone. It can’t be the only one- _

His train of thought was abruptly interrupted by a nudge at his elbow. He turned and saw T, holding a roll of tape in his hand and offering it to him. Again his head was tilted to him, mimicking a look of curiosity. 

“You found some! This is great!” Sildar exclaimed, accepting the offered tape and inspecting it. “Thank you!” he added then, smiling in earnest at T. The elf bowed his head, accepting the praise.

“So… of all the places in the Bureau, this was the only place that had tape?” Sildar asked, chuckling softly. The elf didn’t reply, his eyes falling to the umbrella again before drifting to the door. Sildar followed his gaze before smiling wryly. Was T not supposed to be here? It couldn’t be possible that he was breaking some kind of rule, right?

“I get it. I’ll just use what I can here so we don’t get in trouble for borrowing it then. Not like you’ll tell on me though, right?” he suggested with a small chuckle. “I appreciate it though. I really don’t want to mess around with Garfield any more than I have to.” 

Without waiting for the reply that wasn’t going to come, Sildar moved to sit against the wall. He set the umbrella down gently and measured out the damage carefully. He could only hope the tape would be enough to repair the old thing, or at least hold it together for a little while longer. He wasn’t really in any position to get another magical focus, especially one as handy or strong as the Umbrastaff.

T decided to also kneel down next to Sil, much to the man’s surprise watching as he worked on his artifact. Sil blinked at him in surprise but didn’t shoo him away. Those tired, grey eyes were focused entirely on the tear. 

“Worried?” he asked with a smile as he tore off strips from the roll of tape, unfolding the Umbrastaff to better see what could be patched back together. “Don’t be. I’m a master at patching up old things that I can’t afford to replace. Just watch,” he said as he began to work, carefully lining up the torn fabric and the spokes. It was a slow job but he wanted to be careful and not make any unfixable errors. 

All the while his audience was quiet but rapt. At least, he thought he was.

Sildar smoothed the tape carefully, feeling his eyes burn from tiredness but determined to work against his exhaustion. Just a few more strips of tape and he could say the job was done…

He was surprised then when he felt a weight against his side. The elf!

T had fallen asleep while trying to watch him patch the Umbrastaff. Fallen asleep against him.

How tired had he been? Sildar was frozen as he watched the elf, his breathing slow and deep. Obviously tired enough to fall asleep against a near complete stranger who couldn’t even remember his name. Something about the sight of him made him feel a deep pang in his heart. Those dark patches under his eyes… 

Again, he had to wonder just why T had been up at this late hour. Didn’t he have a room of his own somewhere on the moonbase?

Sildar sighed and carefully set the final strip of tape, letting T doze against his shoulder. He knew he should wake him up. And send him away. He knew he should get himself to his own bed back in his dorm. Yet he hesitated, setting the umbrella down in his lap and giving the elf a little more time to rest. Hell, he could even just rest his own eyes for a moment.

_ Just a moment though, bud. That’s all you get.  _

**Author's Note:**

> This is me working out the writing rust. This a very new, non-solid AU where Taako's voidfishing was a little more 'thorough' and Barry never fell off the Starblaster.


End file.
